


A Light from the Shadow

by celestial_light



Series: A Light From the Shadow [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 10:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15992987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestial_light/pseuds/celestial_light
Summary: Anakin is given the chance to atone for his deeds during the short reign of Darth Sidious.





	A Light from the Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> for celebrate-the-clone-wars mirror, mirror prompt. I tried my best to capture Anakin’s personality, especially as someone who’s been a victim of abuse and manipulation suddenly coming to terms with living for themselves. And of course I had to add Plo. 
> 
> Comment if you liked it! Come visit my tumblr (myinkandtrees.tumblr.com)!
> 
> Brownie points to anyone who can tell me where the title comes from XD

****Anakin starred in the body length mirror, taking in the new set  of robes he’d been given, his gaunt, pale face, and the scar that ran down his eye. He was still very much the same man he was a month ago–the same conflicted personality, and the same jedi struggling with the Dark Side. The new robes didn’t change that, nor did his newly granted position. He didn’t know why he expected to look in the glass and see a better man.

And then there were his eyes.

“My eyes are still yellow, Master Plo.”

“Coruscant wasn’t built in a day,” The Jedi spoke from his chair, “You will not leave the Dark Side in a day either, it will be gradual.”

Anakin groaned. That was not the response he wanted.

What he’d give to have Obi-Wan tell him what to do now,  or for Mace to scowl at him and tell him how reckless he was for accepting Plo’s offer (and in the darker recesses of his mind, where he vigorously fought to suffocate the Dark Side, he yearned for Palpatine).  He was so used to being told what to do and either revolting against it or bitterly accepting it. It had been a complicated life, but at least he had structure. And secretly he craved it, he had no idea how to live without it.

At least he had guidance (and Force, he’d been like that as a child, always in chains, always under someone’ else’s shadow).

Mace was gone though,  thanks to his shortcomings. And Obi-Wan had only looked at him with a devastated expression, and refused to speak to him.

(And Palpatine was long gone, killed by Anakin’s saber)

That had been a month ago. A month of loneliness, a month of making himself small while trying to simultaneously fix what he’d done.  

But here was Plo, telling him something he genuinely _needed_ to hear. But Force, it was so strange. So strange to live for himself and have all he ever wanted (though he wasn’t sure of being a Master was really what he wanted not anymore).  No manipulation, no chastising…just this.

It was almost scary.  

“But what if they stay the same.” He murmured,  looking back at the Kel Dor, “What if they  don’t go back.”   _What if I don’t go back_ , the valid fear hung in the air, and was just as loud as any spoken word.

Plo smiled–or at least Anakin thought he smiled. It was hard to tell with the mask, but the Jedi could see what looked like more wrinkles forming on the old alien’s face.

“Look in the mirror Skywalker, what to you see.”

Anakin turned slowly, half expecting this to be another trap for a lecture, half expecting Plo to tell him to look deeper into himself. But when he met his scarred face in the mirror, he gasped.

“They’re blue again.” Cool metal fingers touched the glass surface of the mirror, than graced the flesh of his cheek just beneath the eyes, “I don’t understand.”

“And they will turn yellow again,” Plo stood, “and then blue, and so on. Maybe they will turn pink. If that’s not balance, Skywalker, I don’t know what is.”

“But Master Yoda never dealt with the Dark and the Light side once, neither did Master Windu. And also, Master Yoda–”

“Is not the Grand Master, anymore,” Plo placed his taloned hands on Anakin, “You are.”

Anakin was silent for a while, before turning towards the Kel Dor, “Are you sure? After everything I’ve done, are you sure?”

He was so uncertain of himself, and his anxiety leaked out into the Force. Plo could feel it, and his conflict would have made the Kel Dor uneasy had he not been used to it.

“I would not have passed on the position to you if I weren’t certain. Even at my old age, I will continue to live on for many years to come,” he explained, beckoning Anakin to the sofa so that they could sit, “I would be worse than Master Yoda, for my species is long lived and set in our ways. I may be accepting to you, but years from now my ‘accepting’ views will be as conservative as Yoda’s.”

Anakin couldn’t deny that. But if it was between a conservative Plo Koon and a failed Sith Lord, Anakin was certain that the Council would have chosen the conservative Plo.

“You on the other hand are a mix of tradition and the new. You fell and pulled yourself out, you blend the old and the new, you are balance,” Plo placed a reassuring hand on his knee, “You have taken full responsibility for what you have done, and have worked to right your wrongs. You will not fail us, Skywalker.  You will lead us into something greater, and this is only the beginning.”

Anakin smiled, though he wasn’t completely convinced. The fact that Plo, who by all rights should have been Grand Master, passed it onto Anakin, was still a shock to him and everyone who knew. He dreaded the council’s reaction, and dreaded the reaction of the Republic even more so. But if Plo had hope in him, than maybe he could do it?

And he had no right to refuse, not for what he’d done. At the point he’d do anything to right his wrongs.

The old Kel Dor had a way of making him feel like a kid again, and shouldering his concerns on Plo felt good. He wondered if he was being telepathically manipulated, if his fears were being made to turn into hope, and his worried waned away. The longer he sat in silence with Master Plo, the better he felt (he wished he could stay like this for ever).

There was a ring at the door, and Anakin’s heart nearly dropped. The time was coming.

“Come in,” called Plo, standing up and ushering Anakin to follow after.

“Master Plo, Grand Master Skywalker,” addressed the small Togruta (and Anakin’s heart ached at the sight of her. If only Ahsoka could see him now), “The council is ready.”

“Lead the way, kid,” Anakin instructed, sounding as hopeless as ever.

Before he left, he looked over his shoulder one last time, praying that the eyes he saw in the mirror would be an appropriate color for the Council.

Though regardless of what the looked like, he saw Anakin Skywalker staring back at him, the robes of the Grand Master adorning his body.

 _You can do this,_ the affirmation rang in the back of his head, and whether it was Plo’s telepathy or Anakin’s own confidence, the Grand Master hadn’t a clue. All he knew was that it was time to address the Council

 

**Author's Note:**

> I might continue it! It's a part of a series, so idk. But tell me what you thought!


End file.
